The Harris catch-phrase, “We’re not going back,” isn’t aspirational–it’s factual. Even if the unthinkable happens, and Trump ekes out a victory, the MAGA folks will be disappointed, because the cultural changes that anger and motivate them are highly unlikely to reverse.
I’m hardly the only observer who has pointed out that this is not an election based on policy differences. Instead, our political divisions are responses to the cultural shifts that have generated hate and hysteria from a sizable minority of the population. The Dobbs decision, the anti-woke fury, the authoritarian prescriptions in Project 2025…all are reactions to cultural shifts that anger and terrify that very vocal, regressive cohort.
An excellent illustration of that primal motivation is the eruption of anti-trans political ads in the last days of the election season. The number–and viciousness–of those ads tells us two things: first, it’s politically effective to focus on the smallest and least-understood sliver of the”different” people who symbolize unacceptable social change; and second, widespread acceptance of previously favored targets–like LGBTQ+ folks generally– is now baked into the culture.
The MAGA focus on trans people was the subject of a New York Times essay by a trans author, who put the attacks in cultural context. She began by noting that approximately half of today’s Americans consider gender transition immoral–or at least, not normal. But then she reminded readers that definitions of “normal” are subject to change–and in fact, have undergone considerable change over time.
And yet most notions of “normal” have rarely been fixed, even as there have always been those who insist they are immutable. Certainly gender may be one of the most fundamental — dare I say natural — ways we have organized societies. But history reminds us that all assumptions should always be questioned. Every significant challenge to the existing order, from the vote for women to interracial unions to marriage equality, has provoked strong reactions and, not uncommonly, hand-wringing about the downfall of civilization.
She pointed to interracial and same-sex marriages.
Race isn’t gender, and the comparisons aren’t perfect. And yet the arguments made against interracial unions like the Lovings’ in the 1950s and ’60s are eerily similar to those made against marriage equality a decade or two ago and against trans people today: We hear appeals to God, science, the well-being of children and the natural order, in efforts made to write out of existence trans people, our care and our place in public life. Those arguments resonated back then, as perhaps they do for some people now. In the 1960s a vast majority of Americans disapproved of interracial marriages (a majority didn’t approve until the 1990s), even if now few question whether people of different races should be allowed to marry….
The transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, mused during his stint onstage at the Democratic National Convention about the mundane and chaotic — and yet miraculous — daily routine of raising children with his husband: “This kind of life went from impossible to possible, from possible to real, from real to almost ordinary in less than half a lifetime.”
How did support for same-sex marriage go from just over a quarter of Americans near the end of President Bill Clinton’s first term to nearly 70 percent this May?
The author noted research showing that large numbers of people who changed their minds about marriage equality did so because they knew someone who was gay or lesbian. That means that acceptance of trans folks will be more difficult; polling suggests that barely 30 percent of Americans have friends, relatives or colleagues who are transgender, and although that number may grow, it won’t ever be very high, since research tells us that transgender folks are a very small sliver of society.
Since there aren’t very many of them, and they remain a largely unknown, vulnerable (and purportedly “non-normal”) segment of the population, the GOP figures it’s safe to attack them–just as it used to be safe to attack women’s suffrage, interracial and same-sex marriage, and gay people generally.
As the author wrote,
I can’t help thinking it’s worth reflecting on what the trial judge in the Loving case, who argued that allowing people of different races to marry would go against God’s will, and other right-thinking people of that era might make of the current political landscape. For all the polarization, misinformation and puerile attacks on candidates, being married to someone of another race simply isn’t part of the equation at all. It is, in fact, something … ordinary. Even normal.
MAGA is too late. Win or lose, Harris is right: we aren’t going back.
If the fascists truly take over, this is all subject to change. The Orange one is now openly discussing executing Liz Cheney. All bets are off if this senile hateful creature regains power.
I happen to be one of those who does know a trans person directly. To single out those who are the most vulnerable reveals how cowardly and bigoted those supposed “Christians” really are. What are they so afraid of?
Those who continue to support the message of hate have earned my complete contempt and total distrust.
Yesterday it was revealed that Traders Point Christian Church joined that group when a pastor came out in full righteous indignation and horror at the possibility that women would be allowed to make their own choices.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Freel%2FDBr3T_oRBXT%2F%3Figsh%3DMTJhOHg2ZXFwOHN3MA%253D%253D%26fbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1NI9QrGL-BDVx_G_mPaehr9ayGnotlz5FDH1JeW4VIM02KruU3Z2VL6kQ_aem_b_QR6E-v8gnELG6So1cY2A&h=AT1ngfupTPd9NfU-OXlGalmRcetMlEDhJZytF0ORYkhz9Uojj5z_UXPh9eapnop0OqoxexT84oXvSryWSdcPfkkdoc6yVaLimWgNZWkwjuc5EBEkWawUdrpvauI4MO3P5ouFnUMDLq34Js_KW_rWKxi4YA&__tn__=-UK-R&c%5B0%5D=AT1SiLDVwvL0VoXLQZo2Asmc9NdfepusdV72xuAfWS2WmKZuSBmZtRYiAksC_U94nnq3MjMyZ_nITio-aq_4XaPkWyYIQXXjRMC78DbX6uSB-sXQhPu2m447mMwtZctVP6dKX3Exfv0GJNj8Xg3MJCSilMPgYX7QbJQCcZJeE6Mo5Qi-DbP-4BIhm3_MDMuf8btmq7L6By15e1UDOIoIC4EOsyXo2dQzmRgYf3YbxbQzZAHqwLsUgH_D7Q
An animal is most dangerous when it is caught in a trap or cornered. That is where the MAGA/GOP is right now. White Nationalists are scared sh*tless that the demographics are changing and there is nothing they can do about it. I believe that is what is at the root of all this hate.
The Buddha tells us that greed, anger, and ignorance are the three poisons. It is an almost perfect description of what is happening today.
I’m a now-retired Family Physician. I was the first doc treating trans people in SW Indiana and had patients coming from as far as Indy and Louisville. I didn’t start out with the intention of treating trans patients. It just started organically. I was (and still am) astounded by the number of trans people out there. Those that have transitioned mostly fade into the woodwork. Those that have not started transitioning look like everyone else you know, and maybe you suspect they are gay. It is not safe to be trans except in very limited slices of the world. There are far more trans people out there than anyone realizes. I didn’t realize, and I am gay.
When my wife was on the board of a small 501(c)3 corporation, I remember her relating several discussions about accidentally avoiding advocating for political positions because a complaint could endanger their 501(c)3 standing. Is there some reason that Traders Point gets away with this?
For the minority who still fear LGBTQ people, I remind you that we are not the ones engaging in hate speech and promoting violence. We are ones who are threatened and abused and even killed by the so-called Christians.
“God’s will?” People believe that they are price to such a thing? How about suggesting that I know “God’s will,” and understand it to be that we all simply love one another. Oh, yes, so that will set the stage for a war over which one of us is really tapping into “God’s will!” Well, God gave me this gun, what did he give you, misbeliever?” And the battle will show who God loves best? Bull!!!!!!!!!
During a 1961 address to the Canadian Parliament, President John F. Kennedy said, “Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder. What unites us is far greater than what divides us.”
Human DNA varies only a tiny bit but makes us all individuals. Human DNA and, say, mouse DNA differ only a bit, too, but all mice look different from all humans.
Many people focus on our individuality and some focus on our common human-ness. We are both.
People recognize my constant companion, a small dog. Because of that, we speak each other’s language.
I believe that humans act smarter than other animals. Still, I don’t see a great deal of difference other than our flexible faces that evolved to make many different noises. Language was born over a few thousand years ago, but in many countries, you don’t have to travel very far before humans use an entirely different set of sounds to convey the same meaning.
I believe that John F Kennedy and Kamala Harris are correct when they say what unites us is far greater than what divides us.
Dan, a 501c3 social organization like a church should NOT get involved in political conversations. Period. The main reason is political contributions and campaigns are NOT tax deductible. If I can donate to a social organization that does promote political activity, I can write off that donation. This is why the IRS budget has become so political in the past decade. They are so underfunded that they cannot act on the many tips and whistleblowers who point out this illegal behavior.
I’m not sure about the comparison of interracial marriage to transgenders. However, I do understand progressiveness. It’s unavoidable. If “Christians” would study other religions, like Buddhism, they would grasp the unavoidable concept of change and what happens when you resist change. However, most self-proclaimed Christians don’t understand Christianity, let alone bother with studying another religion.
I don’t think many Ds understand MAGATs reality. This election is over, and Trump has already won. There is no chance Trump will lose unless the Ds cheat, which they fully expect the “Deep State” will be rigging this election. In other words, there is no chance he’ll lose unless it’s stolen from him. It’s why armies of lawyers in each red and purple state are already working on challenges. I expect this election will not be called next Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. I hope I’m wrong!
I’m sure that I know at least one transgender person, although I have never heard that person’s pronoun preferences, I haven’t been advised otherwise when referring to her, using female pronouns.
She is pretty much a normal person. Since I met her at church, she must have many of the same beliefs as I. One thing I do know is that when I was her age, I would have beaten her handily at tennis. For those who worry about their little girls facing trans girls, you are overestimating the strength and ability of the trans kids. Even if they are stronger, let me assure you that kids only get better by playing stronger players, so if you need that scholarship for sports, let them play.
From a psychologist this morning…
Erich Fromm’s seminal 1941 work “Escape From Freedom” explained that a portion of humanity actually finds freedom burdensome. As societies grow noisier, more diverse, and more complex, the authoritarians among us are eager to rid themselves of the burden of freedom. They prefer the protection of a strongman to the burdens of democracy.